KUCHING, Sept 9: A business operator from Kuching suffered loss of RM136,000 after falling prey to a phone scam.
According to Sarawak Police Commissioner Datuk Mohd Azman Ahmad Sapri, the man, in his late 50s, received a phone call on July 6 from an individual claiming to be from the Ministry of Health (MOH).
“The caller informed the victim that a report had been filed with the ministry in his name, which he denied.
“Subsequently, the victim was connected to someone at the Perak police headquarters and spoke to a man identified as Inspector Yong, who later informed the victim that there was an arrest warrant out for him related to alleged involvement in money laundering,” he said in a statement today.
In a state of panic and fear after receiving the news, the victim had on July 3 at 3pm followed the instructions given by the scammer to open a bank account with Bank Rakyat.
He also provided the scammer with his debit card numbers and bank account details.
“Additionally, the victim was instructed to erase all communication history between the two parties on the WhatsApp application, followed by destroying his debit card,” Mohd Azman added.
The victim ended up making four consecutive money transactions totalling RM136,000 in early June.
It was only when he checked the status of his savings with the bank that he discovered eight unauthorised transactions had been executed with transfers made to two third-party accounts. — DayakDaily
